2014 (2) TMI 800 - HC - Income Tax

Waiver of penalty - Reasonable cause - Scope of reasonable cause as defined in section 273B of the Act - Short deduction of TDS on account of the payment of trade discount/commission to franchisees - Whether reasonable cause for a failure to deduct tax at source under Section 194H of the Act had been shown by the Assessee Held that - The fundamental principle is that ignorance of law is no excuse - The CIT(A) has exercised his discretion that the assessee was under a bona fide belief that tax was not liable to be deducted on commission/trade discount - on a review of facts, it was found that a reasonable cause had been shown under Section 273B thus, the imposition of penalty which was deleted by the CIT(A) has been affirmed by the Tribunal there is no substantial question of law arises for adjudication Decided against Revenue.

Summary

Issues:
- Appeal against deletion of penalty under Section 271C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 based on reasonable cause shown by the assessee under Section 273B.

Analysis:
1. Issue 1: Interpretation of Law
- The revenue challenged the deletion of penalty by the ITAT based on a corporate letter dated 13.12.2007, arguing that it ignored the provisions of Section 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act.
- The ITAT's decision was questioned for not considering the specific language of the law and for relying on a corporate letter as a basis for deletion of penalty.

2. Issue 2: Reasonable Cause for Failure to Deduct Tax
- The core issue was whether there was a reasonable cause for the failure to deduct tax at source under Section 194H of the Act.
- The CIT(A) based the deletion of penalty on the decision in Idea Cellular Ltd. case and the principle from Hindustan Steel Ltd. case, emphasizing that the imposition of penalty lies at the discretion of the authority concerned.
- The Tribunal upheld the CIT(A)'s decision, considering the bona fide belief of the assessee at the relevant time regarding the liability to deduct tax on commission/trade discount.

3. Issue 3: Precedents and Legal Obligations
- The revenue cited judgments from Karnataka High Court and Calcutta High Court to support its argument that the tax was liable to be deducted under Section 194H.
- Reference was made to a Supreme Court judgment to highlight cases where penalties were not warranted due to inadvertent errors in tax submissions.

4. Conclusion
- The fundamental principle that ignorance of law is no excuse was acknowledged, but Section 273B of the Act provides for exceptions if a reasonable cause for failure to deduct tax is proven.
- The Tribunal's decision to affirm the deletion of penalty was based on the assessee's reasonable cause shown under Section 273B, considering the circumstances and legal precedents.
- The appeal by the revenue was dismissed as it did not raise substantial questions of law, thereby upholding the Tribunal's decision on the penalty deletion under Section 271C.